Give me a mind-blowing history fact

205,375 Views | 1104 Replies | Last: 1 hr ago by USAFAg
BQ_90
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Didn't gable fly some combat missions?
Belton Ag
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Clark Gable is an American icon. He joined the USAAF after his wife Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash during a war bond drive, and actually flew missions in which his plane was damaged by flak and enemy fighters.
FTACo88-FDT24dad
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Belton Ag said:

Clark Gable is an American icon. He joined the USAAF after his wife Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash during a war bond drive, and actually flew missions in which his plane was damaged by flak and enemy fighters.
I read Masters of the Air and I seem to recall he was a gunner on a B-17. Could be wrong.
Cinco Ranch Aggie
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FTACo88-FDT24dad said:

Belton Ag said:

Clark Gable is an American icon. He joined the USAAF after his wife Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash during a war bond drive, and actually flew missions in which his plane was damaged by flak and enemy fighters.
I read Masters of the Air and I seem to recall he was a gunner on a B-17. Could be wrong.
Damaged by flak and enemy fighters. Yep, B-17. Can't recall if he was.a.gunner, but I am pretty sure that he did fly on Flying Fortresses. Been a.while since I read the book.
AgRyan04
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He did
USAFAg
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Hey Nav
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https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/william-clark-gable
Rongagin71
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The Russians actually launched two "space mirrors" and had a
serious program aimed at lighting some Artic areas (plants use light).
The attached video starts with Archimedes, goes through WW2, and
has actual footage of the Russian efforts to mirror the sun to Earth.
StockHorseAg
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This reminds me of the town in Sweden that uses big mirrors to reflect sunlight from the top of the valley down into the square of the town so residents can enjoy natural sunlight.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170314-the-town-that-built-a-mirror-to-catch-the-sun
nortex97
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Shakespeare could probably be an entirely different/separate thread, but this one I like;

The seemingly meaningless sentence "Here was I like a psalm" is an anagram for "William Shakespeare"; they consist of the same letters and only the same letters.

But is it meaningless? The 46th word in Psalm 46 in the King James Bible is "shake," and the 46th word from the end is "spear."

William Shakespeare's age when the King James Bible was first completed, in 1611? Forty-six years old.

But maybe it's just a coincidence (I doubt it).



BQ78
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Mr. Mojo Rising
BQ78
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Two anti-war crewmen of the merchant SS Columbia Eagle hijacked the ship by using a bomb scare to get their ship mates to abandon ship on March 13, 1970. The Columbia Eagle had a shipload of bombs for delivery to Thailand and eventually to the B-52s at Thai bases. The two then sailed the ship to Cambodia, where they sought asylum from the neutral government of Norodom Sihanouk. Unfortunately for the mutineers, Sihanouk was ousted five days after the mutiny by a pro-western coup. The Communist press around the world suggested the mutineers were CIA agents bringing the load of 500 and 750 pound bombs to help the coup.

The new Cambodian Government initially said they were going to keep the ship and weapons but the publishing of the accusations by the Communist press, led them to return the ship. They held the two mutineers in loose arrest while their asylum case moved through the Cambodian courts. In October, one of the mutineers escaped and headed to north Cambodia to join the Communist forces there, he was never heard from again. The second mutineer suffered a nervous breakdown and after unsuccessfully seeking asylum at the Soviet and Chinese embassies in Phnom Penh, surrendered to the US embassy. Sentenced to 10 years at the US penitentiary at Lompoc, he was paroled after five years. He was never sorry for what happened and said his only regret was that he didn't sink the ship.
oragator
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Maybe not mind blowing, but pretty cool.

Cinco Ranch Aggie
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No, that's pretty cool. Most people probably wouldn't even notice them, yet they walk by a small part of history every day.
agrams
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Martson matts are the same way. Used to make roads and airfields in haste. They were rust resistant due to high magnesium content.

https://unknowncebu.wordpress.com/2020/10/25/the-airport-walls-of-talisay/

You can see some here in the Philippines for gates:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/j3PA7MRrw5t2EtkaA
jkag89
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Not mind blowing but a certainly an interesting bit of WWII/London history
ChucoAg
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Little late
jkag89
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Whelp, of course I was.
oragator
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Ok it's pop history, but yeah, it still freaks me out.

agrams
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ouch... that one hurts me...
nortex97
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The "Texas Stack" explained. Note: this is not in any way my endorsement of the Dallas high 5.

ABATTBQ87
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jkag89 said:

Not mind blowing but a certainly an interesting bit of WWII/London history

I saw those this summer when I visited London during my WWII tour
Spore Ag
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Most of the original railings intended to be used in the war effort were of a cast variety so I was told were useless and subsequently dumped in the ocean. Really a waste as their design was magnificent
p_bubel
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Whiskey on the rocks.
or, how Sweden almost went to war with the USSR.

On October 27th of 1981, a Soviet submarine ran aground outside the small coastal city of Karlskrona in southern Sweden. The incident started an 11-day long diplomatic tug of war between Sweden and the Soviet Union.

Swedish radars then detected a task force of a dozen Soviet ships approaching S-363. Led by Admiral A. Kalinin, the fleet included the missile destroyer Obraztsovy, and older gun-armed destroyer, two anti-ship missile boats, a frigate and a tug.

While the submarine Neptune did its best to slow down the approaching fleet, the icebreaker Thule was moved into position to block access to S-363. As the Soviet task force continued to approach, radar-guided coastal guns activated their targeting radars, which were designed to hop multiple frequencies to evade counter-battery fire. This finally prompted the Soviet warships to halt. A lone tug continued approaching, however, until Swedish torpedo boats barred it progress.

nortex97
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Not sure if there's some numerical significance (let alone gematria) to 5784 (or 5785) years to the date, but an interesting epochal coincidence.
Rongagin71
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Australia had a series of nineteenth century gold rushes that had much to do with attracting population and building up wealthy cities like Melbourne.
An early shaft dug by an experienced Californian named Canadien Swift led to the discovery of paleo rivers underground remains with loads of gold and other valuables such as black opal.
StockHorseAg
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A farmer shoving a beer bottle up his ass in 1985 led to a chain of events that eventually led to the fall of Yugoslavia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90or%C4%91e_Martinovi%C4%87_incident
agrams
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StockHorseAg said:

A farmer shoving a beer bottle up his ass in 1985 led to a chain of events that eventually led to the fall of Yugoslavia.

Lol, i had to read that 3 times, and while i had no problems comprehending the words, the train of thought of that sentence derailed me multiple times...
CanyonAg77
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"What are you known to history for?"

"Well........"
Rongagin71
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An historical meme...
oragator
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Fun fact that I probably posted at some point, but Florida was one of the colonies (2 actually, there was an east and west Florida) that didn't secede, and after the war ended up with Spain. Florida and Georgia were an international border for about 40 years.
The other colony thst came close to joining the union was Nova Scotia. They actually tried a few times to talk about it but it never happened.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-nova-scotia-almost-joined-american-revolution-180963564/
Tanker123
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The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian.

I am going off the top of my head and will try my best for historical accuracy. Vespasian was a brilliant military general who became governor of N Africa which was a significantly important post because it was the breadbasket for the Roman Empire. That is where most of the wheat came from.

His soldiers and army loved Vespasian. When he assumed power, he sent his army to Rome to secure it. He would stay in N Africa for a year before setting foot in Rome. History will reveal Vespasian was a good emperor and leader. Unlike previous governors of N Africa, he would not use the post to build wealth. Rome flourished under his leadership and is known for building up Rome like the construction of the coliseum.

4 Emperors

Ciboag96
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We Texans claim Santa Fe, NM as once being a part of the Texas Republic. I mean, you can buy a fancy Texas map showing it so in the hallway leading to the crapper at any Buc-cees

But residents of a Santa Fe don't, since the Texas flag never flew over Santa Fe nor was a government ever installed from 1836-1845. In fact, when a delegation was sent by Texas to welcome Santa Fe, NM into theTexas Republic, led by Juan Seguin, they were met by a Mexican Garrison, imprisoned and sent to Mexico City.

Santa Fe does claim these four as having flown over the Plaza:

- Spain 1610-1821
- Mexico 1821-1846
- United States 1846-present (some still call it the "occupation". This is true)

And the fourth?

-Confederate ( for 3 weeks of 1862)


Quote:

It's hard to believe now but the Confederate flag also flew over the Santa Fe plaza. For three weeks in the spring of 1862 the city was under Confederate rule during the American Civil War. On March 26, 1862 New Mexicans and volunteers from Colorado joined forces with Union soldiers at the battle at Apache Canyon, 13 miles from Santa Fe just off of Interstate 25. The Yankees lost five soldiers during that skirmish but captured 71 Confederates and killed between 32 and 70 of their men. Two days later the battle resumed west of the village of Glorieta now known as the Battle of Glorieta, which some refer to as the Gettysburg of the West. After that historic battle the Confederate flag came down and since then the U.S. and New Mexico state flag have graced public buildings throughout the state.

But, which Confederate Regiment took Santa Fe for 3 whole weeks? It was Major Charles Pyron and the Second Texas Regiment. So, Texans did eventually take Santa Fe for a spell, just not with the Lone Star.
CanyonAg77
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The Texas-Santa Fe Expedition was supposed to link the Republic with Santa Fe for trade, and probably was intended to steal some trade from the Santa Fe Trail.

It got as far as the Los Lingos / Quitaque Creek confluence, south of present day Quitaque and Caprock Canyons State Park. They couldn't find a trail to get the heavy trade wagons up the Caprock, so they split their forces, and sent a smaller, mounted group on to Santa Fe.

Archeologists have found a cylinder from a very early Walker Colt pistol in the area. Don't know if it was from the expedition, or a cowboy or Indian lost it later.
p_bubel
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I don't know if I've shared this one before. I googled to see, but got no results...
Sorry if a repost.



Quote:

In the 1950s the US government asked if they could purchase the freehold of the Square where they intended to build their new Embassy.

The Duke's trustee "indicated that it would be possible to buy the freehold on one condition; namely that the lands confiscated at the end of the American War of Independence be returned to the Grosvenor family. The Ambassador decided not to push ahead with buying the freehold".

Clearly the Duke was generous as the estate agreed instead to the annual rent of one peppercorn.
This emamel box contains gifts from a previous US ambassador to the Duke of Westminster, so they really are the actual rent paid.

In 2018 the US embassy recently moved to Vauxhall, as the old site could not be upgraded for security measures.
 
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